


darling if you call me i'll come running

by atlantisairlock



Category: MythBusters RPF
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Getting Back Together, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Not Canon Compliant, Reunions, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Separations, Team Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 03:39:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8650039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlantisairlock/pseuds/atlantisairlock
Summary: Working on Mythbusters is a lot of things. Easy isn't one of them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this fic posits that only five years' worth of seasons happened before mythbusters was cancelled, instead of the season 14 fiasco. 
> 
> title from 'cherry' by luna shadows.

Working on Mythbusters is a lot of things. Easy isn't one of them. It's a pressure-cooker environment, everyone always on their toes and being pushed right to the limit, straddling that thin line between safety, innovation, and making good TV. A lot of people in M5 are actually on the shortlist for joining the build team come Season Two, and it's not beyond the realms of imagination that a bigger crew could have gotten involved, but while all of them are made for M5, not all of them are made for _Mythbusters_. Which is why they eventually make the decision to pull in Kari, Tory and Scottie.

It's not a bad start. Kari is basically made for television - she's fun, she's easygoing, she's game for anything, and she's conventionally attractive, which makes her A-star material for reality entertainment. She takes a while to get into her role, but once she does, it's as if it's the most natural thing in the world. Tory is a daredevil, does the stuff that's more off-the-wall and people warm to him because he's spunky and charmingly reckless. 

Scottie makes for good TV, too, but not for the same reasons as Kari. She's blunt, and a little on the rough side, and says what people don't want to hear. Most everyone on the ground likes her because she's refreshingly frank, but the big bosses upstairs don't, for reasons painfully evident. 

Tory kind of gets it, from the start - that they're all just waiting for the golden moment she fucks up so they have reason to kick her from the show. He's reasonably certain Scottie knows it herself, too, only she doesn't care because Scottie's never going to be the kind of person who compromises herself for shit that just isn't worth it. He genuinely respects her for it. They both know it's just a matter of time. The thing is, they're not sure Kari knows it. 

He's always been pretty good at reading people. And Kari isn't in the business of burying all her feelings, so it was always easy to see. He saw it the day Jamie introduced Kari to the rest of M5, and her eyes lit up when Scottie lifted her welding helmet to look up at the new addition. He can still see it now. The two of them click. Scottie's always softer around Kari, and Kari never laughs anywhere else the way she does when Scottie's around. The three of them, they make a good team, but it's honestly a Tory-and-Scottie&Kari kind of situation. He's okay with that. He's the kind of person who can be alone. He's not so sure about Kari. He's not sure how different her laughter is going to sound if - no, _when_ Scottie leaves, sooner or later. He's not looking forward to hearing that difference.

 

 

It turns out to be sooner rather than later. A few weeks into the filming of Season Three, Scottie has a huge blowout with one of the producers. It's all one big misunderstanding and it probably wouldn't _actually_ have been the straw to break the proverbial camel's back if not for the fact that Adam sides against her before they work the whole situation out. There's another fight on the shop floor for everyone to see. It's loud, it's nasty, and at the end of it Scottie just calmly sets the box of crap she's holding in her arms down on the nearest table and huffs a furious, exasperated half-laugh. "Fuck this shit, I'm out. This isn't working, and I'm not wanted here. I want my life back."

And that's it. Before the day's up, Jamie's already scrambling to find a replacement to keep the build team's strength at the magic number three and they're sorting out when Scottie's going to leave and when her replacement will join up. It's easily the worst day that M5's seen since its inception, and Kari watches all of it unfold. 

Tory finds her sitting in front of one of the shop's arc welders while Scottie's talking with Jamie, just staring into space. He sits by her for ten minutes solid, not sure what he's supposed to do, until she leans in against his shoulder and lets out a muffled sob. "I don't want her to go."

He sighs, and puts an arm around her, because what else _can_ he do? "I know." 

 

 

Red tape is a thing, so Scottie still films a whole bunch of episodes after the Incident. A lot of those have scenes where she's with Kari, and they still care about each other so the chemistry is still  _there_ \- just stilted. Tory gets the feeling Scottie's just trying to put some distance between them so it's easier for both of them when she finally says her last goodbye. 

It definitely sucks. Kari straight-up cries to him over the phone the night before Scottie's last day, and Scottie declines the others' offer to throw her a proper farewell party, so once the last work day is up, it's really the end. And it's a painfully mundane nine-to-five, too. They don't film anything explosive or even stupidly fun, they just spend a day working on a build that leaves Tory with a splinter and gives them a whole bevy of irritating little problems. They only finish it at seven that night, an hour behind schedule, and Scottie doesn't make any ceremony out of it. She packs her stuff, hitches her backpack over her shoulder, and the whole team watches her leave.

Kari doesn't talk about it. 

 

 

Five years pass.

Which makes it sound so fast, and so smooth, when it isn't, not exactly. A lot of things happen in those five years. One of Adam's sons tops the state rankings for fencing and the other starts playing in an honest-to-god orchestra. Jamie has a cancer scare that thankfully turns out to be just that - a scare. Grant joins the build team and Tory falls head over heels for him. Grant is gentle and intelligent and never stops surprising him in the best way. He's easily the best thing to ever have happened to him, and Tory can't help but feel guilty because sure, he misses Scottie - sometimes they're working on a myth and Grant says something offhand and the first thing that enters Tory's mind is  _god Scottie would have loved that line_  and he _knows_ the four of them together would have made an amazing team - but he's just so grateful he got to meet Grant and fall in love. 

Kari is happy for them, and fully supportive. Everyone is. They keep their relationship on the down-low anyway, because sometimes they'll be in the middle of a build and Kari will look up at Grant with a huge grin expecting to see another pair of eyes looking back at her, and watching her happy expression slip for just a second into terrible, terrible longing just  _sucks._ They are friends. They just want to make it easier for her, in any small way they can.

So - five years pass.

Kari still doesn't talk about it.

 

 

The ratings start tanking, because that's TV and that's what happens to shows that go on for a long time. They're still one of the Discovery shows with the highest viewership, but they're beginning to feel the sting. It's been a good run. But everything has to end. 

Adam, being Adam, wants to do an explosive myth for the Very Last Episode. Grant, being Grant, suggests they do a little bit where they invite people to come back - people who've been crucial to the whole Mythbusters experience. Have them reminiscence about the past seven, eight years. Christine. Heather. Eric, Alan, Frank, whoever. 

Scottie. 

Tory hears Kari's breath catch, minutely, when Jamie says her name. And that's when he realises Grant doesn't really care who  _else_ comes back to do this bit.

This is for Kari.

 

 

Someone has to make the call over to Scottie. Tory draws the short straw, because Kari aside, he's the only one left on the team who Scottie might not instantly hang up on. And sue him, he's a little nervous. It has, after all, been five years. That's a really long time. 

He doesn't even get the chance to debate whether to go through with it, because the call connects on the first ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, Sc - "

"Holy shit, hang on a second - Belleci, is this  _you?!"_

And Tory thinks his heart swells three sizes, because Scottie's exclamation of surprise just takes him back, that rush of memory from the time she was one of them. He isn't even surprised she recognised his voice. "Yeah, it's me."

"Oh my - fucking hell, it's been _years_ \- you  _never_ called, you dick!" Scottie responds bluntly - things may have changed, but this at least has not. Tory holds back his laughter. "Hello to you, too."

"Yeah, yeah. What's the occasion? Why the sudden call?"

"What, I can't call just to catch up with an old friend?"

Scottie snorts so loud over the line Tory winces. "Save me the mushy stuff. If you wanted to do that you would've called ages ago. What's up,  _old friend?"_

"Ah, well..." Tory taps his fingers against the wall, wondering how best to break the news, then decides to just speak really fast and get it done and over with. _"Mythbusterslastseasonfinalepisodedoyouwannacomeback?"_

"Belleci. I did not hear a single word you just said." 

"Okay, okay." He takes a deep breath and goes again, crossing his fingers for luck. "Look, Scottie. Mythbusters is on its last season. We want to do a final episode where we get old friends back in to reminiscence. Christine, Jessie, the whole nine yards. We were wondering if you'd want to come back too. Rejoin the build team one last time." 

The other end of the line goes so quiet for so long, Tory almost thinks Scottie's disconnected, until she suddenly sighs. "I didn't leave on great terms, Tory. You know that."

"I do, Scottie. But it's been five years, you know? What went down then, it doesn't mean anything now. And even if it did... we're winding down. It's just one last time. For old times' sake."

"It's been five years," Scottie agrees, and her tone edges on bitterness. "There's nothing I'm going back to."

Tory grips the phone tighter. "What about Kari?"

Silence. Encouraged, Tory continues, relentless. "Look, Kari still cares about you, okay? I don't know about you, but all of us know she's still in love with you. We can see it. I was there with both of you, and if nothing, I know you  _loved_ her, past tense, then. At least give her the closure she never actually got. And Grant wants to meet you too. He knows you were amazing, he knows we could've been an incredible build team, all four of us, and he wants you at our wedding."

That, apparently, gets Scottie's attention. "Wait, wedding? You and Grant?"

She sounds so surprised Tory can't help but chuckle. "I mean, we're not engaged yet - but he's the one I want to spend my life with. I'm sure of it. It's just a matter of time, now. We want you there. I want my friends there, when it finally happens." 

Scottie murmurs over the line from states away, sounding wistful this time. "I always thought it would be you and Kari, you know? You were so good with - for each other."

"It has always been you," he answers softly, wondering just how Scottie never saw it for herself. "Come back. Please. For her. For us."

Another sigh.

Then - 

"When?"

 

 

They film the bit way before the finale, because one of the higher-ups gets it into their head that they want a cute fancy little group photo with everyone in it, for publicity, which requires everyone getting together on the same day to shoot and the scheduling is wild. How they manage it Tory has no idea, but they do, and everyone's due to meet at the shop at about nine on a Thursday morning. 

Scottie turns up an hour early having forgotten to account for time zones. She walks right in, looking so different Tory has to take a second glance before he can connect Scottie-then to Scottie-now. But when he does, the grin just spreads across his face, and he sees it on hers too. "Chapman!"

"Belleci!"

And then they're hugging, and just like that five years of separation comes to nothing. They do a quick catching-up session, and Tory introduces Grant, and they click instantly, proving Tory right about the hypothesis that they would have made an  _amazing_ build team. It doesn't take long before she's looking around, though, obviously searching for someone, and Grant exchanges a look with Tory before speaking in that gentle voice of his. "Kari's at the back."

Scottie's off like a shot. She sprints through the shop and out to the back and stops short right at the door, just looking in. Kari's busy cutting up some styrofoam and it takes her a while to finally look up, but when she does, it's like the whole world stops. Tory and Grant watch, from a ways behind, as Kari just freezes for a second. Doesn't move. The disbelief is raw on her face, followed by confusion, then realisation and amazement and she just drops everything she's holding, jumps out of her chair and runs towards the door to meet Scottie. She swings her arms around Scottie's neck, pulling her close, and they hug it out in the doorway of the shop, five years later. 

They don't even kiss. They don't need to talk. Kari's just crying in Scottie's arms, and Tory has a bit of a lump in his throat, and Grant puts an arm around his waist and sighs. "We should totally get married."

"Double wedding. Sounds good," Scottie says without even looking back at them, and Kari huffs out a laugh, a laugh Tory hasn't heard in years. "God, I missed you."

Scottie's entire expression softens, and  _that's_ something he hasn't seen in a long time, either. "I missed you, too."

They lean in close, into each other, and all is right with the world. 

**Author's Note:**

> my last ever major national exams have just ended and i have spent the entire exam period procrastinating by watching mythbusters, thinking up fanfic ideas in my head and downright dying to write this fic. 
> 
> usual disclaimers about rpf, none of this is real, i own nothing, entertainment only, don't know much about the inner workings of m5 for real etc.


End file.
